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| Charlie makes sure some of the issues of adolescence will not be ignored |
Writers: D.C. Fontana (story by Gene Roddenberry)
Director: Lawrence Dobkin
A closer look at Trek's early episodes shows how tragic the whole show was compared to others. Which may explain why ratings were so low.
The general public was probably expecting silly space adventures like Glen Corbett, Space Cadet, Captain Video, Rocket Rangers or the more recent Lost in Space. Instead they got a sci-fi show full of angst written by people weened on Shakespeare and Greek tragedies. A few of them got the picture and became true believers, others just changed the channel. In the midst of the space race, who wants to see people generally being miserable in space?
The Enterprise is on a rendez-vous course with the probe ship Antares. They have a special passenger on board they want to unload on Kirk's shoulders: Charlie Evans, marooned on planet Thasus since the age of three. Now 17 years old, the young man seems eager to rejoin with the human race. The Antares crew, however, seems eager to get rid of him.
Doctor McCoy examines Charlie and finds him in good health. Mr Spock, however, is curious just how a child of three could have survived on an alien planet without adult supervision. Charlie remains evasive on the subject. Anyway, he has other things on his mind as he comes in contact with Yeoman Janice Rand, his first ever with the opposite sex. Charlie develops a huge crush on Rand, and by that I mean the stalker/obsessive kind. His continuous attempts at seducing Rand prompts the woman to report him back to Kirk. Spock and McCoy recommend that Kirk becomes a father-figure for him to guide him through this difficult period.
Oblivious to everyone else (at first) Charlie is no mere awkward teenager with no social skills. He has powers. He interrupts a jam session between Spock and Lt Uhura (they are diverting Rand's attention from him) and later performs seemingly impossible card tricks to impress her. Later, he destroys the Antares when their captain is attempting to warn the Enterprise about him. Clearly something is amiss, yet it takes forever for Kirk and crew to realise it. Meanwhile, Charlie is becoming more and more irritated. He tries desperately to be liked, yet behave in a most unlikeable way.
Kirk tries his best to teach Charlie how to handle himself in society, and that includes leaving Janice alone. Charlies still defers to Kirk's authority, but it's only a matter of time before the levee breaks. Finally, odd things are happening for all to see. Charlies melts chess pieces when he loses a game to Spock. Freezes people who displeases him, transforms a young woman interested in him into a lizard. Charlies attempts one last ditch effort to get some action with Rand, but she flatly turns him down. She is whisked away somewhere as retaliation. Finally, Kirk has no choice but to notice.
The Enterprise was headed for the Alpha V colony (Charlie's relatives are there) but Kirk do not want to unleash Charlie on an unsuspecting colony (this is what the Antares did to his ship, after all). Charlie, on the other hand, wants to go. He blocks the helm and navigational systems to prevent Kirk from changing course and generally behaves like an asshole to his former mentor (there's a pattern here, as disciples always turn against their mentors). Charlie is sole master of the ship...
...Until the Thasians arrive. These alien beings have given Charlie his powers so he could survive his ordeal. Unfortunately they haven't given him the wisdom to use them. The Thasian are discorporate beings whom Charlie feels no connection with. Kirk pleads with the Thasian to let him stay, but the Thasians understand he is too dangerous for human company. They undo whatever it is he has been doing, and take Charlie back. Kirk and crew are safe again, but at what price?
Like all the best Trek episodes, "Charlie X" is ahead of its time. Nowadays, in the US, there is a thriving industry of so-called rehabilitation centers for parents who cannot cope with their own teens. So they have them kidnapped and brought to out-of-the-way camps where their sons and daughters are thaught a few things or two by people with no proper qualifications and where teenagers are psychologically, physically and sometimes sexually abused by people who don't know what they are doing. "Charlie X" seems to mirror that situation perfectly. The only difference is that Kirk doesn't really want Charlie to go away. He just wants him to get better.
Stardate: 1533.6
He's dead, Jim: While no one on the Enterprise permanently suffers from Charlie's fits of pique, the same cannot be said for the twenty members of the Antares' crew.
Strange new worlds: Thasus, the planet where Charlie was marooned all these years ago.
New life and new civilisations: The Thasians, discopoeral aliens who gave Charlie his powers. They look human but that may be just a disguise. Most in the Federation considers the Thasians to be mythical beings. They are not.
Kirk's little black book: Charlie's actually, who develops a huge crush on Yeoman Rand.
The Verdict: A very touching episode whereas the big bad is no black hat heavy, but just a simple, confused teenager with vast powers over reality. Kudos to Robert Walker Jr. for a perfect performance as the troubled Charlie. A classic.
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